SRO GT Barcelona preview

SRO GT Sprint races
November 9th - 10th, 2002

The season finishes -- and starts -- in Barcelona.

Although the official races might have been run, titles fought for and won, the 2002 season will come to a close for the various Championships, Cups and Trophies organised by SRO at the Spanish circuit of Barcelona this weekend.

In effect, a number of cars and drivers will be travelling to Spain, some to take part in the final round of the challenging Spanish GT Championship, others to compete in two SRO GT Sprint races. The weekend will be completed by a full test day at the circuit on Monday 11th November, as Barcelona will host the first round of the 2003 FIA GT Championship.

Among those cars planning to take part in the 60-lap Spanish GT Championship race, which takes place on Sunday 10th November, are the magnificent BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello cars, which won four rounds of the 2002 FIA GT Championship. Jean-Denis Deletraz should share the first car with Frédéric Dor, while Enzo Calderari and Lilian Bryner share the second car. The Reiter Engineering Lamborghini GTR-S will also be racing, in preparation for the GTR-S Supertrophy Team, due to enter six upgraded Lamborghini cars in next year's Championship.

>From the French GT Championship, the Almeras brothers will enter two Porsche 911 GT2 cars, for Sourd/Bervillé and Cabanne/Tillie, while the DDO Chrysler Viper GTS-R is a possible entrant.

Among the N-GT cars, JMB Racing should be preparing their 2003 season, with three Ferrari Modena 360 cars, while Porsche 996 GT3-R cars will be entered by Cirtek Motorsport, DDO Autopalace, Tirelli and Yellow Racing. These cars are also eligible to take part in the two SRO GT Sprint races, and many intend to do so.

Regular FIA GT entrants BMS Scuderia Italia, JMB Racing and Cirtek Motorsport are among those remaining in Barcelona for a full day of testing on the Monday, getting their 2003 campaigns off to an early start !

The SRO GT Sprint races will also mark the swansong for the magnificent Lamborghini Diablo GTR Supertrophy cars in their current format. A number of the limited series of cars, much in demand by collectors around the world, will be upgraded, via a kit, and will take part in the FIA GT Championship next year. In the meantime, these two 50 minute races will also constitute the final rounds of the 2002 Lamborghini GTR Supertrophy. The titles have already been claimed, with Gérard Larrousse victorious in the Gentleman Drivers' category and Jean-Marc Gounon winning outright, after an excellent season with first-time Supertrophy driver Franck Sevin.

Also taking part in the SRO GT Sprint will be two Porsche 996 GT Cup cars, one for Jean-Marc Bachelier and Jean-Pierre Michel, the other for Guy Clairay and Erik Rumpler.

-sro-